HOW NEW FOOD LABELING RULES WILL HELP YOU
Thanks to new labeling regulations, consumers, for the first time, will be able to compare the nutritional value of every packaged food available in the supermarket.
The new federally required labels on all processed foods will have to list calories, total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, carbohydrates and protein, and sodium content, and show them in the context of a daily diet featuring 2,000 calories and 65 grams of fat. The idea is to show the consumer how much of a day’s total of each individual
ingredient he or she is getting from a particular food. Also, designations such as “low-fat”, “high-fiber” and “light” are to have federally imposed definitions under the new labeling regulations.
Here are the federal govenrment’s definitions for some of the terms most commonly used to describe calories, sodium, sugar, fiber, fat, and cholesterol in food:
1) Free— fewer than 5 calories; less than 0.5 gram of sugar; less than 5 milligrams of sodium; less than 0.5 gram of fat; less than 2 milligrams of cholesterol, and 2 grams of saturated fat per serving.
3) High— provides more than 20 percent of the amount recommended for daily consumption, as in “high_fiber”.
4) Source of— provides 10 to 19 percent of the amount of a specific nutrient recommended to be consumed each day.
5) Reduced, or less— at least 25 percent less than the original product in sodium, calories, fat, saturated fat or cholesterol.
6) Light— if the product has more than 50 percent calories from fat, this designation means at least a 50 percent reduction in fat. However, if the product has less than 50 percent calories from fat, it can be either 50 percent reduced in fat or have 1 /3 fewer calories.
7) Light in sodium— reduces the sodium content of the original product by 50 percent.
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